-
How to handle U.S. threats to Canadian trade
Canadian PoliticsOfficial Ottawa needs to recognize that Canada is better off working with other countries to build a reasonable multilateral trading world rather than depending on the goodwill of a Donald Trump to re-negotiate NAFTA, or betting that he will not be re-elected. It is past time for Canada to return to active support for improved multilateral trade arrangements instead of the Harper/Trudeau policy of pursuing bilateral or regional agreements.
-
Debasing US Policy Discourse About Russia
USA PoliticsBaseless and reckless tropes about Russia, Cohen points out, have proliferated in the US political-media establishment during the new Cold War, and even more since Russiagate allegations began to circulate widely two years ago, in mid-2016. The worst of these tropes—in effect an incitement to war—is that “Russia attacked America during the 2016 presidential election.” But there are others equally unfounded and almost as detrimental to Washington policy-making.
-
Why Venezuela’s Election Matters—It Was Under Siege by U.S., Canadian and EU Influence
Latin America and the CaribbeanThe election is over. Predictably, the United States and Canada will increase their sanctions regime. The Lima Group ambassadors are home getting their instructions. They will likely downgrade diplomatic relations with Venezuela. None of this is a surprise. It is what they had already announced. They did not wait to see how the elections went. Isolation of Venezuela is their strategy.
-
The United States’ Hand in Undermining Democracy in Venezuela
Latin America and the CaribbeanTalk of coups and military intervention in Venezuela, or anywhere in Latin America, needs to return to its previous taboo status, particularly given the current U.S. leadership’s receptiveness to absurd ideas. Instead, it’s time for cooler heads from across the political spectrum to work together to change the direction of U.S. policy toward Venezuela. First, U.S. citizens who care about Venezuela must organize to force Trump to lift his financial embargo.
-
Trump’s Phony Trade War
GlobalizationSo what’s all the talk about a Trump ‘trade war’? Is it media hype? Typical Trump hyperbole? Is there really a trade war in the making? Indeed, was there ever? And how much of it is really about reducing the US global trade deficit—and how much about the resurrection of Trump’s ‘economic nationalism’ theme for the consumption of his domestic political base in an election year? One thing for certain, what’s underway is not a ‘trade war’.
-
The Coming War Against Iran
Middle EastTrump has kept up his anti-Iran rhetoric since becoming president. More importantly, he has appointed Iran hawks to the two most important positions in foreign policy: former CIA Director Mike Pompeo as secretary of state and former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton as national security advisor. The two have made clear that their preferred policy toward Iran is “regime change,” a policy that is actually prohibited by international law.
-
America’s Long History of Trying to Determine Who Rules Syria
USA PoliticsProponents of US military interventionism in Syria will avoid addressing this known fact like the plague. They’re more than happy to dispute claims about false flags and the White Helmets, but if you start asking them “Hey don’t you think it’s a little odd that the government we’re all freaking out about right now just so happens to be one that’s been a target for regime change by US intelligence agencies since long before any of this started?” they get real squirmy all of a sudden.
-
US State Department no Longer wants Elections in Venezuela
Latin America and the CaribbeanWith presidential elections announced in Venezuela, the US State Department moved quickly to declare that the contest would not be recognised. But less than a year ago the tune was quite different, as a cursory look through State Department briefings and press releases will show. We also examine how political developments from the past year have led to the current scenario, and how US demands for “free and fair” elections are not only arrogant and hypocritical but also misleading.
-
The World Will Not Mourn the Decline of U.S. Hegemony
USA PoliticsThe biggest costs have fallen on the many millions killed and maimed by the U.S. military and allied and proxy forces in the last seven decades and before. The victims include the many U.S. military veterans who have killed themselves, many of them haunted by their own participation in sadistic attacks and torture on defenseless people at the distant command of sociopathic imperial masters determined to enforce U.S. hegemony by any and all means deemed necessary.
-
The United States and China: Game of Superpowers
AsiaChina presents a test of our national fitness to continue to enjoy a preeminent position internationally. We will not pass that test if we do not repair our national strategy deficit and rediscover diplomacy – measures short of war — to address the challenges of a rapidly changing international environment. That is what we need to do to reverse the diminishment of America and make us great again.
